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About Michael Linke | Linke Leadership
About Michael Linke

A practitioner who became a coach. Not the other way around.

Over thirty years in executive leadership across for-purpose, corporate, and community organisations taught me more about leading through change, building culture, and closing strategic gaps than any program could. That experience is what I bring to every engagement.

Where this work comes from

My career has been built around organisations that exist to make a difference. From the Australian Taxation Office to RSPCA to Vision Australia, every role has required leading through complexity, often with constrained resources and high stakeholder expectations pulling in different directions.

I have been a Regional Manager and Site Manager, a CEO for fifteen years, and most recently a General Manager at Vision Australia. In each role the fundamentals were the same: you have to be clear on strategy, honest about the gaps, and willing to do the harder work of changing culture and behaviour, not just structure and process.

My work now spans two areas. The first is individual leadership — coaching, mentoring, and career development for leaders at all stages. The second is organisational leadership — working with boards and executive teams on the strategy, change, and cultural alignment that determines whether an organisation succeeds or stalls.

In addition to my executive experience, I have completed Advanced Management Program coursework through Harvard Business School Online, focusing on leading change, organisational renewal, and strategic execution. I apply those frameworks directly in my consulting work, alongside the practical experience of having navigated the Global Financial Crisis with RSPCA and the pandemic with Vision Australia.

I also serve as a Non-Executive Director on the board of Adaptive Technology Suppliers Australia (ATSA), which keeps me close to governance realities and the disability sector.

This is not academic consulting. It is practitioner-led, honest, and built around what will actually work in your context.

Where I have led

Current
General Manager
Vision Australia
Leading service delivery and organisational performance for Australia’s largest blindness and low vision services organisation. Managing complex stakeholder environments and driving strategic renewal across a national operation.
Board Role — Current
Non-Executive Director
Adaptive Technology Suppliers Australia (ATSA)
Governance and strategic oversight for the national peak body for assistive technology suppliers. Contributes to sector policy and industry development.
15 Years
Chief Executive Officer
Multiple organisations including RSPCA
Led multiple organisations through transformational change. Navigated the Global Financial Crisis at RSPCA, overseeing sustained operations and workforce stability during a period of significant sector disruption.
Prior Roles
CEO and Executive Leadership
Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA)
Led a national member-based organisation of over 10,000 members. Managed governance, regulatory relationships, commercial operations, and major strategic initiatives across the recreational aviation sector.
Earlier Career
Senior Roles
Australian Taxation Office and others
Built foundational leadership experience in large, complex government-adjacent environments with significant process, compliance, and stakeholder management demands.

Values that shape every engagement

Honest Over Comfortable

The most useful thing an external adviser can offer is an honest perspective. I will tell you what I actually think, not what is easiest to hear.

Practical Over Academic

Frameworks are tools, not destinations. Everything I use has been applied in real leadership contexts, and the test is always what changes in practice.

Psychological Safety

People and organisations only grow when it is safe to be honest about what is not working. Creating that safety is a prerequisite for this work.

Mission Over Metrics Alone

Especially in for-purpose organisations, the reason the organisation exists matters. Strategy and performance have to be anchored to that purpose.

Diagnosis Before Solutions

Most leadership and organisational problems are solved with the wrong interventions because the diagnosis came second. I start with the root cause.

Inclusive Leadership

The best outcomes come from organisations where every person, at every level, feels they have a place and a voice. That is not idealism — it is strategy.

Experience and credentials

Harvard Business School Online

Advanced Management Program — Leading Change and Organisational Renewal (LCOR). Frameworks applied: Congruence Model, Innovation Streams, LEASH Culture Framework, Gap Analysis, Dynamic Capabilities.

Executive Leadership

30+ years in executive leadership including 15 years as CEO and current General Manager role at Vision Australia, one of Australia’s largest disability services organisations.

Board Experience

Non-Executive Director, Adaptive Technology Suppliers Australia (ATSA). Experience in NFP governance, board-executive relationships, and risk oversight.

Sector Breadth

Disability services, animal welfare, recreational aviation, community services, government-adjacent. Understands the specific pressures of mission-driven organisations.

Let’s have a conversation

Whether you are looking for individual coaching or organisational consulting, the first step is a straightforward 30-minute call.